German rail to introduce driverless trains as early as 2021

GERMAN rail company,
Deutsche Bahn, yesterday said it
has concluded plans to introduce
driverless trains as early as 2021.
The chief executive of Deutsche
Bahn, Ruediger Grube, said in
Berlin that they were expected to
complete work on the driverless
trains by 2021.
“I expect us to be able to
operate parts of our network
completely by 2021, 2022 or 2023.
“Autonomous driving can be
difficult in a complex rail network
that includes high-speed and
regional passenger and goods
trains, but it is possible,’’ Grube
said.
A spokesman for Deutsche
Bahn, confirmed the report that
the first testing of driverless
trains would take place on a
30-kilometre track in the eastern
state of Saxony later.
He said that the trains to be used
in the tests had been fitted with
cameras and technology aimed to
detect obstacles on the track and
halt the train before collision.
He added that there are also
liability questions that had yet
to be ironed out. In February,
the head-on collision of two
commuter trains in upper Bavaria
killed 11 people and injured
dozens of others. The accident
was blamed on the signals control
officer in charge of the train